thank you so much. we're wrapping up our show "the lead" here in boston. i'm jake tapper. an fbi press conference is just moments away. i leave you with wolf blitzer in the situation room. before i do i just want to make it very clear to all the boston red sox fans out there. yes, we are all red sox fans this week even if normally we're not. wolf blitzer, take it away. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we're waiting for the start of an important fbi news conference. it is about to begin with the latest developments in this investigation. we'll have live coverage as soon as it begins. this is preliminary comments, not the news conference itself. they're just giving some instructions out there about the news conference. it should begin within the next few minutes. we'll have live coverage. we've been waiting for more than

24 hours for the start for this fbi news conference to begin. they've just given us -- that man you just saw there -- what is called a five-minute warning. it should begin around 5:05 eastern. here are the latest developments in the investigation into the boston bombings. first, a source tells cnn two individuals featured in photographs sent to law enforcement agencies are no longer of high interest to investigators. investigators have been combing through surveillance video dating at least a week before the bombings a source saying they are trying to identify anyone who may have scouted the area. technicians by the way, the fbi's national laboratory in virginia will try to reconstruct the bombs based on remains of a pressure cooker, metal pellets, and a shredded backpack sent to the scene. drew griffin is over at the news conference awaiting the start. we're going to hear from the fbi agent in charge. set the scene for us. >> reporter: it just got very chaotic. the fbi agents brought in two easels.

they have two black what look like photos they're going to turn over and show us at any moment now. we may be getting to see the actual evidence that they want us to see whether that's photos of actual people involved or more photos of devices. there's a lot of anticipation here, wolf. i'll tell you as they brought in the easels, the cameras that are jammed into this small conference room at the sheraton hotel just crowded to the front and now we are all waiting for an unveiling of whatever this is. we expect to have this news conference under way momentarily. the special agent in charge -- one other thing for all of our producers whatever they show here, wolf, will be available on the fbi website as soon as it is revealed. >> and of course cnn.com will have that available as well. we're waiting for the fbi agent in charge. richard delaureau to come in, he has been briefing reporters and

the american public since the two bombings occurred at the end of the boston marathon on monday. three people were killed. nearly 200 people were injured. he was supposed to have this news conference yesterday but it was indefinitely postponed and now finally it will happen and we anticipate getting the very latest from the fbi agent in charge. tom fuentes is here with me as we await the start of the news conference. he is fully prepared, tom, you're a former fbi assistant director, our analyst now. but he is coming in and knows precisely what he wants the american public to know. >> right. that is exactly right and among the considerations that have been going on since yesterday. they have one issue of informing the public and the other of having to be careful about what kind of strategy issues they reveal. >> they don't want to do anything to undermine the investigation. at the same time they believe people might be able to help with some evidence. >> people might be able to help

but at the same time they don't want to jeptize the potential success of apprehending the right people and being able to convict them later. >> you don't want to undermine an eventual prosecution if you will. we anticipate because it has been delayed now for 24 hours he obviously has something important to say. >> i would assume. there's been a lot of things going on behind the scenes over the course of the entire investigation and it's very difficult to prepare and actually perform these press conferences. it takes a lot of time getting all of the commanders together. have the meeting, the discussion, go over what is going to be said. it takes a lot of time when they're looking at the case, itself, trying to run this investigation. >> this is a complicated investigation. it is not just the fbi. it's state, local authorities, boston police. deborah feyerick is watching this. we await the start. what is the latest information you're picking up? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting because they've been

very carefully guarding, obviously by looking at what we see there, who they may show us once the cloths come off the easel. they've been very careful. you have to keep in mind they've been going through hundreds if not thousands of photographs isolating individuals who seem to stick out who don't belong where they are, and so the expectation is that once they do reveal who is under or what is under the easeeasels we'll have much clearer sense. yesterday we were talking about these two young men who were of keen interest, circulating all around an image that went viral. one man in a white baseball hat, another in a blue jacket. they went from sort of being on the top ten to well below that. so it'll be interesting to see who they unveil when they pull the cloths off the easels. >> fran townsend is watching all of this unfold. she is here with me. this is an important news conference. i think it's fair to say based on everything we're hearing, fran, this fbi agent in charge is the man, this is a federal

investigation, local and state authorities are assisting in the investigation and there are many agencies involved. this is the man who will be doing the briefing, answering questions at this news conference who is in overall charge absolutely. and what they're doing now is making sure that they vetted what he is going to say, what help he is going to ask for, what the message is to the public and they're confident they have a system that they can solicit the public's help. >> basically if they are going to show us something presumably or say something they want the american public especially people in the boston area to be able to come forward with information. >> absolutely. they've made that clear from the very first day. they've been imploring the public. first it was for videos or any information they have. we know they've been out doing interviews, talking, canvasing the manufacturers of the component parts. and so they clearly have additional information now that they feel comfortable they can

ask for more specific assistance. >> drew griffin is inside the briefing in that news conference and is listening and watching and getting ready. give us a little flavor of the sense of anticipation, drew. what is it like in there? >> reporter: well, this is the same crowd i was with for like eight hours yesterday, wolf, waiting for the fbi to come out. there is an incredible amount of anticipation. as soon as we saw the easels come out, everybody realized that this was not going to be just something like something updating. we were actually going to get the real news and then came out the black posters. so now we're all anticipating some actionable information we can work with, work on, and perhaps, i mean, perhaps help solve this crime. i think the hesitation has been that when you once ask for tips, the receiving end is going to get thousands of calls from everybody who can recognize some portion of whatever you're going to see and then you have to read through everything.

but the scene is suddenly hushed. there may be about 50 cameras just waiting and trained on the door to see who is going to come through and unveil the photos to us. >> drew, we understand he will make -- have an opening presentation. he will speak and tell us what the latest is on the investigation and then he will open it up to questions. i'm not sure how many questions but at some point reporters will be able to follow up with questions. is that right? >> we understand there is going to be a short, prepared statement and he will have the u.s. attorney with him. they will have some questions but we were cautioned by the u.s. attorney's press liaison that the questioning will be very few. we'll see just how long they will stand here. apparently they have something very specific they want to say to us and, perhaps, not much more than that. we will get in as many questions as we can and we'll just have to wait and see. >> are we also expecting to hear

from the u.s. attorney? >> we were told there would be no prepared remarks from the u.s. attorney. however, the u.s. attorney has answered my questions here before. carmen ortiz. if we get a chance to of course we will ask those questions. she of course is the one who will have to with her team prosecute the fbi's case in court here in boston so she is a very important person in terms of the prosecution end while the fbi is of course the lead agency in trying to track them and get them into carmen ortiz' courtroom. >> tom fuentes former assistant fbi director is watching and we're waiting for these -- the fbi and the u.s. attorney, the fbi agent in charge and the u.s. attorney, to walk in. but, tom, as we await the arrival, the start of the news conference, is there oftentimes, and you've been involved in some of these investigations, a lot of them as a former fbi assistant director, some tension between the attorney, the u.s.

attorney who has to prosecute, and the fbi agent in charge who has to investigate? >> i wouldn't call it tension, wolf. it's just there is a debate of what's involved and what the investigators need to do to get the person into the courtroom as drew mentioned and the debate of not wanting something done during the investigation that jeopardizes the chance or reduces the probability that evidence can be introduced, which would lead to the conviction. so they have their areas of expertise and they discuss that but this is something, the coordination between u.s. attorneys and the fbi and the other law enforcement agencies is ongoing in every major case. >> they have to really be sensitive. fran townsend, you worked with the justice department. you were a homeland security adviser to president bush. you have to be very sensitive what you say, so you don't undermine eventually some sort of prosecution. >> that's right. because oftentimes as you're gathering, for example they got great forensic evidence that they've been exploiting over the last 48 hours. you want to be able to keep that a secret so that when you're actually, if you get someone in custody and you interview them,

you don't want to show your cards publicly. you don't want them to know what you have because you want to be able to test them in an interview and elicit as much detailed information as you possibly can. >> all right. i think some folks are beginning to walk through those doors. this is about to get started. let's see. they said originally it started around five minutes after, 11 minutes after the top of the hour. but let's see if they start coming in. maybe -- it's not unusual, fran, for there to be some last-minute issues they want to make sure they are precise in their words. >> look, given the importance and size of the investigation, wolf, you can be sure that anything that rick is going to say has been cleared by fbi headquarters in washington and coordinated with the homeland security council and other agencies in addition to clearing it with the u.s. attorney who is going to appear with him. >> any new information? drew, you're inside that room. getting any new information on what is going on?

>> reporter: no i'm not getting any new information. just another brief delay. jack pope who is an fbi agent was called off the stand and into the back room here which i can see but i can't see who is -- i'm sorry. we are just waiting. there just seems to be some last-minute logistical operation going on behind the scenes. we're just waiting. certainly we waited eight hours yesterday and here we are again. obviously, this is going to be a little more fruitful today. >> the anticipation that you were talking about, drew, looking forward to getting some specific information, i was in boston. clearly, the city has been shaken, indeed the state, entire country has been shaken by this senseless bombing that occurred at the end of the boston marathon. there's a lot of frustration at the same time. people want answers. but sometimes you don't get answers that quickly. >> collectively the entire town i can tell you from eating

lunch, sitting on a park bench yesterday with two older men who were discussing in very colorful boston language who could have done this, everybody out there is being a sleuth trying to figure out foreign, domestic, local, not local. somebody who knew the marathon, somebody who was in the marathon before. somebody who had a grudge. everybody is speculating. they are mainly feeding on rumors because of the lack of information coming from the officials. i don't mean that as criticism. it's just i can tell you when you say there's frustration and anticipation, boston wants to know who did this. mostly now because i think boston is collectively ticked off. and so you have all this anticipation spent up and yesterday as we were waiting for that i could feel that in the press room and when the fire

official came out and said the fbi has canceled the news conference and there won't be one, there was a lot of frustration among my colleagues but also i can tell you as i walked out on the street a sense of frustration for the public as well. >> shock and anger and people were amazed by what had occurred over these past few days. there is real frustration and anger right now. tom fuentes you've been involved in these kinds of investigations over the years with the fbi. how many people really know, i mean this is a huge investigation. i would say hundreds if not thousands of people in one way or another have been looking into these crimes but how many people are really knowledgeable about what is going on? >> actually a pretty good number of people would because you are sharing that information among all of the investigative agencies so that they know what they're looking at what they should be looking for. i want to also add one of the difficulties here and one of the

delays that comes up is often not just the information you put out about the potential terrorists that you're trying to apprehend but if you're very cautious about what you put out about people that may turn out to be innocent and they're not terrorists but would be possibly labeled by law enforcement or by the media as terrorists and we don't want that. >> that would be terrible. >> the police are relying on the trust and cooperation and respect of the public and they don't want to start doing something in an investigation that causes people to be fearful and would cause potential witnesses to be reluctant to come forward and talk to the fbi thinking my name is going to be out there or my picture might be out there or they might arrest me. you have a number of competing concerns that make it very difficult. you are balancing the successful outcome of the investigation but at the same time being cautious about these kind of issues. >> fran, there is at least one killer out there on the loose, maybe more. we don't know. you don't want to do anything

that is going to aid that killer in his escape or her escape or their escape. >> that is exactly right, wolf. that is why particularly with forensics but with most of the information related directly to the core of the investigation, they'll be very careful. they are not going to release it unless they absolutely have to because they want to solicit the public's help. i think that is what you're seeing here today. >> these days later, fran, there is still no one who has claimed responsibility for this heinous crime. >> right. you know, people ask, we've asked, what does that mean? >> what does it mean? >> it's hard, wolf. look. we're normally used to seeing if it was an al qaeda-related in some way, a claim of responsibility. there has been none. on the other hand, communications for them can be difficult in terms of getting their claim of responsibility out. it really, wolf, i don't know how to read it frankly because it is right now there are so many potentials, paths to walk down, and that is what i think the fbi is doing, trying to walk down every single one of those to eliminate those that are not fruitful. >> do you read anything into

this no one making a claim of responsibility, tom? >> my impression of that is that it may not have been coordinated in any way from overseas. you don't have al qaeda central or al qaeda in the arabian peninsula or pakistani taliban involved in this directly but they may have inspired somebody here to self-radicalize and do it. it could be somebody learning from "inspire" magazine as we've talked about before or on the internet that's learned how to do this and does it because they are in support of the same objectives as al qaeda without actually being directed in any way by them from overseas. >> at the same time it could be a domestic home grown timothy timothy mcveigh type of terrorist. >> that's right. the same recipe is in the anarchist's manual so it could be a radical domestic inspired event. >> timothy mcveigh responsible for the oklahoma city bombing of the federal office building, murrah federal office building back in 1995. deb feyerick you are on the

scene in boston. you're speaking with law enforcement, local, state, federal law enforcement types. any sense of sort of a general description of where this investigation stands right now, infancy, middle, advanced, anything along those lines? >> earlier in the week we were told forensic teams were expected to wrap up toward the end of the week. there's been no update on that. we're not clear whether in fact they have gotten all the evidence they need from various locations. the one by the tree where one device went off and also by the finish line where another device went off. they've been canvasing the area now and we're told that there were other people. through the last couple days we've seen a number of photographs of people who investigators are interested in speaking with. it'll be very, very interesting if the photographs that we have seen are an individual or

individuals who now they are looking for. there are a couple of people who saw or were very difficult to identify. there was nothing that stood out about them. they almost seemed to appear to be shielding themselves, shielding their faces. so again, those were the pictures that were sort of circulating. the ones we saw, individuals who have such high interest who are now really of lower interest, they knew their faces and they were able to identify them. we're told by one individual that one of those men actually walked in and said, you know, it's not me. it's not me. >> all right. hold on. >> so we'll be curious. they're coming in? >> i think they're coming in. some of their aides just came in. they'll be sitting in the front row. the fbi agent in charge is going to be walking in right now. he'll open with what has been described as a relatively brief statement and afterwards will take a few questions. the u.s. attorney in the boston area will be coming in as well.

this is about to begin so the anticipation has been intense over the past 24 hours or so since this news conference is supposed to take place at 5:00 p.m. eastern yesterday. that was delayed and then postponed and now finally it is going to take place. this is one of those moments that we will all be anxious to get some more information, because we certainly know there are so many questions that remain unanswered. here comes the fbi agent in charge. >> good afternoon. i am the special agent in charge of the fbi's boston division. since monday's bombings the fbi and our law enforcement partners have been working around the clock and are fully committed to investigating this matter to bring those responsible to justice. our collective law enforcement team has pursued thousands of leads and tips.

we are searching with a sense of urgency to identify those responsible for the bombings. within the last day or so through that careful process we initially developed a single person of interest. not knowing if the individual was acting alone or in concert with others we obviously worked with extreme purpose to make that determination. the entire force of the federal government, fbi in boston, around the world as well as our partners in the boston, a.t.f., massachusetts state police, and more than 30 agencies of the boston joint terrorism task force have set about to ensure that all responsible for the bombings will be brought to justice. more importantly, it was done to ensure the future safety of the city of boston, the commonwealth of massachusetts, and the country. indeed, through that process the fbi developed a second suspect. today we are listing the public's help to identify the two suspects. after a very detailed analysis of photo, video, and other

evidence we are rel photos of these two suspects. they are identified as suspect one and suspect two. they appear to be associated. suspect one is wearing a dark hat. suspect two is wearing a white hat. suspect two set down a backpack at the site of the second explosion just in front of the foreign restaurant. we strongly encourage those who were at the forum restaurant who have not contacted us yet to do so. as you can see from one of the images suspects one and two appear to be walking together through the marathon crowd on boyleston street in the direction of the finish line. that image was captured as they walked on boyleston in the vicinity of the intersection with gloucester street. the quality of the photos is quite good but we'll continue to work on further images to improve the identification value. further on fbi.gov we have

photos of the suspects. the photos and videos are posted for the public and media to use, review, and publicize. for clarity, these images should be the only ones and i emphasize the only ones the public should view to assist us. other photos should not be deemed credible and they unnecessarily divert the public's attention in the wrong direction and create undue work for vital law enforcement resources. for more than 100 years, the fbi has relied upon the public to be its eyes and ears. with the media's help in an instant these images will be delivered directly into the hands of millions around the world. we know the public will play a critical role in identifying and locating these individuals. somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers, or family members of the suspects. though it may be difficult the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us.

no bit of information no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential is too small for us to see. each piece moves us forward toward justice. it is extremely important to contact us with any information regarding the identities of suspect one, suspect two and the location. we considered them to be armed and extremely dangerous. no one should approach them. no one should attempt to apprehend them except law enforcement. let me reiterate that caution. do not take any action on your own. if you see these men, contact law enforcement. if you know anything about the bombings or the men pictured here, please call the telephone listed on the photo arrays. that is 1-800-call-fbi. again, 1-800-225-5324. all calls will be kept confidential. we have also established a website for tips that directly relates to the bombing. please contact us at boston

marathon tips.fbi.gov. again, that website is boston marathon tips.fbi.gov. the photos can be viewed on our website fbi.gov. it is important to emphasize the images from monday are indelible and the horror of that day will remain with us forever. this further underscores our obligation to investigate this crime judiciously in order to bring those responsible to justice. the victims and the survivors deserve nothing more. nothing less. excuse me. as to monday's victims, the fbi's committed to ensuring that victims receive the rights they are entitled to and the assistance they need to cope with the crime. treating victims with respect and providing them with assistance, benefits, and help will better our cases. our resources include an office of victim assistance at fbi headquarters and victim specialists nationwide.

these highly trained professionals can assist victims and coordinate with other agencies to provide victims with the support, information, and resources necessary to effectively meet their needs. our victims specialist team continues to work around the clock to bring assistance to the victims of this heinous act. identifying and locating those responsible is now our highest priority. no other details of the investigation will be released at this time because this is our focus now. it continues to be an ongoing, active investigation. review these photographs and contact us at 1-800-call-fbi or www.boston marathon tips.fbi.gov immediately. thank you very much. karen? >> i was wondering should there be an arrest what are the potential charges at this point. >> i wouldn't want to comment on that karen right now. i would allow u.s. attorney ortiz to comment on that aspect.

>> we got photographs, folks -- >> next question please. next question please. yes? >> are both suspects seen planting the devices at the finish line of the boston marathon? >> no. the only one who was observed planting what we believe to be the device is suspect number two with the white. >> what time did they put those devices down? >> i don't have the precise time in front of me. it was shortly before the bomb blast went off. within minutes. >> are these the sole people of interest in the fbi at this point in the investigation? >> at this time these are the people of interest to the fbi. yes? >> do you have any information on what they did after the explosions, were they around watching, anything on them walking away? >> suspect number two with the white on proceeded west on boyleston street and that's all we know right now.

>> sir, can you address -- there are newspapers all over the country including the new york post that identified two men as potential suspects. i just wonder what it does to your investigation when things like this get out and -- >> i think i addressed that. thank you. i think i addressed that in my statement by saying the only photos officially relied upon in this investigation are those you see before you today. >> do you stand by your earlier statement there is no additional danger to the public? >> i do stand by that statement right now. there is no additional imminent danger we are aware of right now. >> okay. thank you. >> again, the photos are available at fbi.gov. we'll have more information when we have something to release publicly. we'll be back but we'll let you know. check our website fbi.com.

>> all right. so there you see some of the video that was also made available of these two suspects, suspect described suspect number one, suspect number two. suspect number two with the white. suspect number one with the dark baseball cap. suspect number two the fbi agent in charge said seen planting the bag they believe eventually exploded and conspired to kill individuals. suspect number one they don't actually have video of this individual allegedly planting the bag at the explosive site. but these are dramatic developments. by the way, we've just been told that the fbi's website fbi.gov is apparently just crashed. so many people are going there to try and take a look at the picture. go to cnn.com and we can show you these pictures as well. the still photos that the fbi agent richard deslauriers released. also this videotape that has been made available to news

organizations by the fbi as well showing the two suspects, suspect number one, suspect number two, clearly, a major, major breakthrough in this investigation. we're going to go through this frame by frame by frame to make sure that all of our viewers here in the united states and around the world have a chance to take a look at these two suspects. these two individuals. they're described as suspects by the fbi agent in charge, and maybe someone will recognize either one of them and maybe have some information to help locate them. tom fuentes is here with me. you looked at these videos, tom, you looked at the still photos. >> yes. >> and you heard the appeal from the fbi agent in charge. you're a former assistant director of the fbi. this is pretty powerful stuff. >> yes, it is. it's expected that as of right now millions of people are watching this worldwide and are seeing it plus all of the other media outlets putting it on their websites and on their broadcasts, so, yeah.

this is very powerful stuff to put this out like this right now. >> fran, they clearly want someone to call that number 800-call-fbi and provide a name or some information about these two suspects. >> absolutely. wolf, we should remind our viewers, the bureau takes it very seriously in terms of putting these photographs out. so they wouldn't have done it unless they had real reason to believe these guys were connected. you talked about suspect number two in the white hat video of him putting the package down. you can see in the video their bags. they had clear pictures of the backpac backpacks. remember they got forensic evidence including pieces of a backpack. you bet you that in addition to the photographs and seeing them planted they've gone through the forensic evidence and matched it up to these videos and photographs to ensure that when they're asking for the public's help it is because they have a serious belief that these people were involved. >> because when the bags

exploded, some residue, some elements of those bags survived. they could get the manufacturer. they could get the name. they could then take a look at the video and see if it is the same thing. >> that's right. remember the other thing the fbi has gotten is the lid to the pressure cooker. they'll go over that and see if there are fingerprints or dna or anything that may also tie these suspects to the bombing. >> it looks, you know, you look at the video, tom. they seem to be pretty cocky these two guys walking around. they got a backpack, baseball cap. just sort of walking through the crowd as if nothing is going on. >> that's right. they attract no special attention walking around. we've been advocating, if you see it say it. what would cause you to say anything? two guys with baseball caps walking down the sidewalk like going to a picnic and no one is going to be suspicious of that by itself. >> now, they say that suspect

agent in charge says they have video of suspect number two with the white actually plant iing t bag along the curb near the mail box or whatever and they see that. they aren't releasing that. is there an explanation why they might not be releasing that specific video, those frames? >> the only thing i can say, maybe there is not a good picture of the subjects' faces. here you see the faces, what they're wearing head to toe. you see the backpack. i think this is maybe the better video here. >> it's interesting they say they have the video not of suspect number one but suspect number two laying down that bed. >> very powerful, wolf. for the purpose that they've asked the public's help they're only going to release the minimal amount of information they have to to get the help they need. to tom's point these are videos and pictures in which you can see their face. the rest of it they won't use and frankly if you apprehend

these guys and are doing an interview and interrogation you may ask them to describe planting a device and then have the picture in the individual dwroe look at to see if they are telling the truth. >> it issing this they said in the last day or so they did isolate one single person of interest. one of these two suspects. but having done that, that led them more recently to the second suspect as well and if they were involved with others, then obviously they're looking for other people that may be involved though they don't seem to -- they certainly didn't suggest today there were others involved in some sort of conspiracy with these two men. >> i suspect what richard deslauriers was referring to, they had the video of suspect number two in the white hat planting the device. they then want back through the video and looked for him in the video and was there anybody else? lo and bloeehold what do you fi but reason to believe on the video that not only is the guy in the white responsible for planting something but seems to be associated with suspect

number one the guy in the dark hat. and so i, base onondaga my experience would say to you that is how they did it. the key here was the video of the guy planting the suspect number two in the white hat planting the device. >> we don't know at this point how those two bombs were detonated, whether there was a timer inside those backpacks, whether there was a cell phone that could have detonated. the fbi is not telling us anything along those lines. >> they haven't told us anything about that, wolf. we know from some of the online manuals that they often use with the pressure cooker a timer but we've also heard rumor of the possibility of using a cell phone and certainly the fbi is looking at both. >> drew griffin was inside that news conference with the fbi agent in charge. he's now outside. drew, what did you think? give us your thoughts on what we heard. >> well, you know, he talked about the first suspect. the single suspect. but when he said second suspect, you know, i gasped a little bit. i think that changes things.

obviously fran and tom fuentes know a lot more about these kind of things than i do. for me it took away the idea of just a lone wolf crazy. when you have two people together they usually have some sort of plan they've been working on and i would assume a plan after the fact. how they would potentially get away or, quote unquote, pull this off. it reminds me of a lone wolf case i did in toronto where the kids were trying to blow up a tower. they were sympathizers with the overseas terrorists and thought by doing this they would eventually blow up the tower and run to a foreign country and be welcomed with open arms into a terrorist group. i'm just merely speculating but i would love to hear what fran and tom think about that now that we have two suspects instead of one. >> let me ask them, fran. >> i tend to agree with drew that the fact there are two of them suggest this was well planned and coordinated. the bureau said that from the beginning. you've got to assume as part of their planning they had an

escape plan to get away. interesting to see. you can't tell from the video whether these are americans or these are not americans. so that remains an open question but it also explains why the bureau has been so sort of diligent about watching flights right after the attack of people trying to leave the area. >> i suspect, tom fuentes, they don't know if these are americans or not. they just have the two images. they don't have any hard evidence one way or the other but i could be wrong. >> that's true. i think they don't know and this gives them the opportunity for worldwide distribution of these images on networks everywhere. also the fact that there are two, on the one hand shows that it is not the single person lone wolf but on the other hand if they are not brothers living together it doubles the number of people who could provide information and identify. now you just need one of the people identified and theoretically that would lead you to both of them. >> unless these two have long gone and either left the country

or escaped someplace they won't be found. i'm sure there will be a worldwide man hunt under way for the two suspects right now. they probably have two of the most famous faces within the next few hours in the world. everybody will be studying those faces. joe johns our crime and justice correspondent is joining us. what is the next break in the case, joe? you've been talking to sources. >> reporter: it is certainly all about the public right now, wolf. as you know, there was a lot of debate about the timing of releasing these pictures. whether to release them all and now the fbi has taken the step and it is important to say these individuals however fuzzy, the picture may be, however good the picture may be, will become some of the most famous people in the world in a while as the public looks at those pictures and everybody tries to decide, do i know who this person is? i know years and years ago here in washington, d.c. when we had the first breaks in the

washington sniper case there was just this dragnet and people everywhere were looking for the individuals whose description had been put out. their car had been put out. in this case they didn't have pictures. now there are pictures so you can bet that people everywhere are going to be looking for them and as we've already been told the fbi's site has crashed. so many people looking for it and that is going to be repeated. it is also on cnn.com as i understand it. our site has not crashed so you can see it there they certainly can. i want to repeat the phone number. if people start recognizing either one of these two suspects, call 1-800-call-fbi in order to provide some information that could potentially lead to the apprehension of either or both of these two suspects. jake tapper is on the scene in boston. jake, you got to admit this was

a dramatic moment when the fbi agent came out, showed the still pictures, the fbi also releasing the video. >> dramatic and chilling to see the actual individuals suspected. we should point out suspected not confirmed as having carried out the terrorist attacks. but definitely a moment when some of us felt a pit in our stomach that this was actually perhaps who was behind this. i have to say on one level it's great that the fbi is working so hard. there is some reason for a moment of pause here. obviously, when you're asking for the public's help, it's because you need the public's help. and the idea that law enforcement with all the capabilities and money and technical know how and individuals who are working this case, the idea that despite all of that, they have no idea who these two individuals are and they need to go to the public. to a degree, that might not

reassure some members of the public. also, of course, these individuals are at large and as the fbi official said they are suspected to be extremely dangerous and armed. these two individuals assuming they are guilty are at large, out there, and while on one level it is great the case has been narrowed to these individuals, on another level it is a bit nerve-racking here in boston. >> i'm sure it is knowing that two alleged killers are on the loose right now. they may be in the boston area. maybe have moved on elsewhere. who knows? since monday afternoon you can get pretty far away from downtown boston if you know you are doing -- deborah feyerick is on the scene speaking to law enforcement authorities in the boston area as well. what do you think? is it going to take a long time to get some names behind the two suspects?

>> well, it is fascinating. clearly not only if somebody recognizes them and alerts the fbi. that is interesting. two folks yesterday that is exactly how the identity sort of became known and that is why as jake said they are looking for these two. they want to cast as wide a net as possible to make sure anybody who may know them will step forward. what is interesting, what we didn't hear from the press conference, we didn't hear, you know, any sort of nationality. we didn't hear any real physical description. i think the fbi right now is letting the pictures speak for themselves. they don't want to add anything that is not in the photos. and we are being told that there is some video. there are images of one of the men who is quite near the backpack as it is placed on the ground. and that's all things that are developing but again the fbi being very careful about what they will say and very careful about what they will not say. again, i want to go back to some of the reporting from yesterday. that is, you know, there still has not been any sort of chatter on any of the trans national

websites, any of the forums. nobody who is even sort of remotely claiming that they know who may have done this or claiming responsibility. so with patriots day being so close, there is a strong emphasis on whether these folks may be domestic. and so, again, fbi, all they're saying, we want to talk to these guys. they're not adding any other details, any other qualifiers to help people sort of figure out where they are. >> good point. tom foreman is over here with tom fuentes the former fbi assistant director and cnn analyst now. take us through this video, the still photos frame by frame so our viewers get a better sense of the evidence the fbi has released. >> there are really three pieces of video here. the first is the head on view or front view of them walking by. then we get a secondary view from behind as you see them walking away there.

then we get a third view of them coming around a corner, which offers another perspective on all of them. tom, one of the things i was struck by is they said in the press room here they seem to be associated with each other. what would make you believe that? yes they are waubing in the same direction on the same sidewalk. why would you believe there is an association? >> you might not from these videos. again, they have more videos they've looked at. maybe the way they were in other parts of the sidewalk or at other times of the day. they're going to have more than just this little clip. this is the only thing they'll release to the public. they have their reason to believe maybe they've had them conversing in a couple other videos or they've put the bag down together, you know, we don't know. >> something that shows them in the same proximity. >> at this point they're -- >> one other thing that is really interesting about this. if we come in close and stop this right about here one of the questions, this sort of breaks up a little bit here, but if you look at the outline of the backpack, it's harder to see here. this is a fairly substantial pack here. we've been talking about the

idea it could hold one of these pots or something. you compare it to the shape of the person here that is a fairly substantial thing and he is wearing both straps over his shoulders. we talked about the weight. i guess that is the kind of thing they also look at. >> right. and the other backpack looks heavy too. so one of the things, you know, we're not clear from the videos, we're kind of thinking maybe they've already planted one of the devices and maybe they're walking away but it could be they haven't planted either one yet. maybe they're going on their way to plant one and do that and then go to the other location and plant it and walk away and then both go off later. >> sure. or they've done one and they're on their way to put the second one. >> no sequence here. >> here is the second pattern. >> this bag here also appears to be hanging off the shoulder. >> same thing. also shouldered here. if you look at the dimensions of the bag this bag looks somewhat smaller but if you sort of trace the architecture of the bag, you get a bag about this big. >> right. >> which is again it seems to be plenty big enough to hold this kind of pot we've been talking

about. >> right now you could have both of these individuals carrying both devices. having not having planted one or the other yet. they might be on their way to one location, set one down, go to another location, set the other down. they're both carrying, i would not think they would take whatever is in the backpack out of it. they probably would just set the whole backpack down. so that is another issue. >> just as a practical matter in general terms, what else would investigators be looking at here? >> i think what else i would look at is if there is anybody else around that may be having a camera or paying attention to them but you looked at them walking down the street. you don't see them turning anybody's heads. you don't see them, you know, people will go about their business doing other things even as they walk by. >> we don't see any sign of them interacting with anyone or for that matter watching the race which is happening right here. you can see all the runners going by. >> that's true. we have -- how many of these other people are also ambivalent to the race? >> standing around looking. >> in other words they are just like everybody else. the assumption other people might have is they've already seen their person, the person they're here to watch, go by and

maybe at this point they're on their way to the finish line. >> sure. >> to meet someone. >> like anybody else walking on the sidewalk. >> right. the reason for them to be there is over. they're walking away to go home. >> our time stamps shows a variety of times. around 13 or 14 minutes before the blast occurred. clothing, hats that have certain insignias, i'm guessing that is of attention. >> i think the issue of whether they appeared to make any kind of contact with someone else along the way, does it appear there is a third person that knows them or talks to them or they hand something or receive something from someone else. if the two of them only walk down the sidewalk and don't interact with any other person, then, you know, that is of interest too. here is another factor that they're going this way. they both tend to be following each other. so i think that, you know, the entire amount of video that they have only releasing these small clips, that i'm sure that gave

them enough indication to want to link them together and say subjects one and two. >> you and i talked the other day about reverse engineering once you've identified certain suspects here. the fact that these people are together here, i'm guessing it would be an odd thing if these in fact were the people involved. it would be odd for them to have come separately and then joined up to do this. this seemed to suggest they somehow came together to this event i would guess. >> well -- that would be a guess. you also have the situation now that with the clarity of their faces and clothing description, now you go back to all the public transportation in town, the subways, bus stations, and look at do you see them going through turn styles getting to a train or after this event leaving? you also do that with all of the video security cameras at airports. you try to determine whether or not they may have gone through an airport either coming into boston or in the days since

leaving boston. >> i don't know if it was a fashion statement or what but it is interesting when you look at this. this is a hat. he seems to have dark glasses. his hood is up here. he is not -- really not nearly as easy to see. the second one though i'm guessing as an investigator this is something that is very helpful. here is somebody who came in. he puts his hat on backward. his face is not covered. no sort of glasses. clearly, the images of his face seem to be clearer than the ones of the first guy. >> a lot easier to see his face. since you have the camera above them, good thing he has a hat on backwards. that is quite helpful on his part. >> yeah. it is fascinating video and i'm sure they'll look at a tremendous amount as they continue to pore through all of this. >> again, you don't know how much more they have than just -- >> sure. >> they have probably, you know, hours, maybe of just these guys already. >> and to what degree are they reaching out to all of these other people that we see in the video who clearly were close to them? is there an effort? you and i talked the other day about how the runners going by all have tracking chips on and can tell you where their families are here.

are they going to engineer that and say look we have a picture and somebody in here do we want to find these people and say, he passed right by you. did you see him? >> looking at this picture say the fbi let's say the fib is able to, through the runners, get ahold of every single human being on that sidewalk, except these two, look at -- not one of these people who have seen him at all. they go by this girl, she doesn't care. past this person who is interested in something else. i think that they are so nondescript as they walk around, they're not going to attract anybody's attention. that makes it harder as well. >> to clarify for our viewers, because we were talking about it the other day, every runner in a race like this wears an electronic tracking chip so the race organizers know exactly where they are. tom, as you pointed out, runners won't see anything, but they would know where family and friends are. if these people aren't noticing, if you know where they wound up, you get connected to somebody else on the sidewalk and you

know how to reach out to those people. we'll be looking at a lot more of this. wolf? >> thank you, guys. good analysis. i want to go through the still photos that the fbi has now released of suspect number one and suspect number two. suspect number one has the black cap, suspect number two has the white cap. let's go to suspect number one, and start -- go through these pictures. i want to show our viewers these still photos that the fbi released just a little while ago. you see suspect number one with the black cap. and you really can't see, in this picture, his face that well. you just sort of see his body. you can see his t-shirt and pants and jacket. that backpack is gone, because we assume the bomb was in the backpack that he dropped off at the end of the boston marathon. but when you see that picture, potentially could be helpful. >> exactly. if you look at the back of him,

it actually looks to me as though that backpack is still on there. we don't know, timingwise, right, whether or not this is before or after they planted the device. by the shear appearance of weight, it looks as though it is still full. >> let's look at the second picture that the fbi released of suspect number one. here we get a little better shot, i think, of his face. >> absolutely, wolf. you've got to believe it's not an accident that he's got his hat pulled on. he's got the glasses on. these guys planned this. they went to excruciating painful detail and planning to make these devices. they had to have thought through, what were they going to wear. it's basically nondescript. the one mistake he's made is there's an insignia on the cap, but other than that, he's got a blue jacket and khaki pants like anybody else. >> a college student or whatever. no one would pay attention to a young guy walking around with a backpack and baseball cap. here's the third still photo of

suspect number one. there you see a little bit different shot. you see the glasses he's wearing as well. >> yeah, this is the closest shot, frankly, wolf, full-on that we've got of this suspect number one. it's a little blurry, it's difficult to see. but there's enough in terms of his body mass and how he holds himself. you know, you don't realize the way the mind works, you process a lot of information. so you don't just process somebody's face, you process how they move, what their stance is. and that's why these pictures are especially helpful, even when they don't have a clear shot of his face. >> here's the fourth still photo from the video that the fbi released, once again, suspect number one with the black cap. and once again, you just see a profile. you don't see very much of his face. >> no, but it's a good shot to give people. people may remember being bumped into or knocked into if they were standing near this guy or turned around. so what the backpack looks like is significant. if somebody saw it put down,

that may be the thing that they call the fbi to give them a tip about. and all those little leads are incredibly helpful. >> tom fuentes is here as well. i'll go to the second suspect in a second, tom, but they have technology that they're trying to advance to make sure they get the right suspect in a case like this. >> they use that. it's difficult to use at this angle where you have a subject with a baseball hat, sunglasses and looking down. the other picture of the other suspect where it's a more frontal view with no base cap, no glasses, it's a higher degree of success. i want to talk about the delay in releasing these videos. if they had these pictures and wanted to show it to somebody in the video, maybe the police have some description that, oh, i saw somebody wearing khaki pants, black hooded jacket, black baseball cap, another guy was with them, they might want to show these pictures. if suspect number one, i wouldn't recognize him if he's

wearing something else. the fact that what he's wearing there, he may not have changed clothes yet in these days since the bombing. now that this is out there, if he's watched himself on television, that jacket, hat, pants, shirt, are gooding to be gone. because the totality of his image wearing the whole outfit may be something he kept wearing in the days after that, and someone might recognize that. >> maybe that's why they delayed releasing these pictures. let's go to suspect number two wearing the white cap. they release the eight photos. here, fran, this is a -- it's a little blurry obviously, but you can begin to make out some features of this individual. it looks like, what, his hands are up there a little bit scratching his head or whatever. >> the thing that strikes me about this, wolf, is he doesn't have sort of the, what we call operational security of the first suspect, the pictures you just looked at. you get a very clear view of his

face. he looks relatively young. younger certainly than the first suspect. you know, and he's got very light colored skin. he just lends himself to a more easy identification. even with the plur riness of that photo. >> let's go to the second photo of suspect number two. here it is. you get a pretty good profile there with the baseball cap turned backwards. >> that's right. the interesting thing about the profile, right, we all have a very unique and distinctive profile. you're always looking at the profile, both the shape of the nose and how it meets the skull both at the top and the bottom, the shape of the tip. that's a very clear picture of that. >> tom, you agree, right? >> absolutely. including the length of his hair and the way he wears his hat, the position of his neck, how high up he holds his head. his demeanor is, i'm really cool. >> yeah. he looks a little cocky. but it's a distinctive profile, obviously, if people spot this, and see him, they may have a

clue, a tip to give to the fbi. i just want to remind our viewers what the fbi special agent said. don't try to apprehend. don't try to stop these two individuals. they are armed and very, very dangerous. try not to be a hero. call the fbi. call local law enforcement. call the police. don't try to do it yourself. i'm going to get back to these other still photos, but i want to go back to drew griffin, who's getting more information. what are you picking up, drew? >> i just want to add one more thing to suspect number two. we didn't get many questions in, but we did get at least one question in of the suspect number two, coaccording to rick was walking west on boylston street. i hate to be that specific, but who knows, that could spark some attention as well. i just wanted to jump in on the conversation there. we didn't get any indication they had follow-up video of suspect number one. >> i know they're searching all the video. there's a lot of video in

downtown boston they're going through. here's another still photo, fran, of suspect number two. this is the individual with the white cap. he actually was seen on other videotape that the fbi has not released yet planting that backpack along the sidewalk over there at the end of the boston marathon. >> you know, one of the things that strikes me about this whole set of photographs, we know, wolf, that they were going to manufacture pressure cookers and batteries and sort of the circuit boards and all that. what they clearly, what they were doing was going with photographs, right? because you don't just go and say, do you recall somebody purchasing these recently in this area. but you go with the photographs, do you recognize this person, what did this person buy, when did they buy it. so in that regard, to develop additional leads, and create the timeline, the photographs are incredibly helpful to investigators. >> you've got to believe police are going to be studying these pictures frame by frame by frame.

the fbi website, fbi.gov, it hasn't really crashed, it's just slow right now because so many millions of people are trying to go to that website to take a closer look at these two suspects. >> the examiners at the fbi lab will be doing like they would do with bank robber photographs, taken from the bank, they will be trying to construct how tall they are, how much they weigh, all of that. you see subject two, he's got the length of his nose, the skinniness of his face, let's say, or his neck. those are things that can't be easily altered later. they can change jackets, throw the hats away, but they're not going to be able to dramatically change the size of their bodies in a short period of time. >> the fear, though, i suspect, fran, is that it's been since monday afternoon, now thursday afternoon. they potentially could have escaped the country, if they have plenty of time to do so. >> that's right. for two people, or more, but these two men that the fbi's